[hcarvalhoalves]

Lawns are an upper-class, 18th century invention, because of course growing food on land is for peasants. The larger the lawn, the more expensive the maintenance, so a well kept lawn was a display of status.

Then, 19th century middle-class, in an attempt to look wealthier and having no personality whatsoever, replicated the trend on their tiny lots, even though they owned much less land, and keeping a lawn is a financial burden.

Nowadays, there's so much profit in this space (equipment, herbicides, etc) that there's an immense marketing budget to keep the status quo.

That's why it's important to learn your history. Good to see this trend reversing.

[Workaccount2]

In an incredibly ironic twist, a suburban home garden is now a sign of wealth too. Having a sunny space large enough to grow food, and even more importantly, having the time to tend to it.

[hcarvalhoalves]

It may be now a sign of wealth in a specific geographic and demographic strata. Having an orchard or at least growing herbs is a worldwide practice.

I'm from South America, and my grandma's house had: mango, peach, lime, orange, grapevine, berries, coconut, jaboticaba, pitanga, acerola, atemoia (native fruits), and many types of spices (including a bay laurel tree). All that in a lot that barely parked 3 cars.

[defrost]

Western Australia, house on the edge of a small rural town, same deal - all the water (sensibly) drains through the garden and trees (grey water - surface, septic via leach drains underground feeding trees) and we've got fruit, vegetables, herbs, chooks, etc.

Once setup it's low daily maintainance, pull weeds when seen and throw them in the compost, lots of things self seed or come back when leftovers + compost are turned over in a clean bed.

The layout dates back to the 1930s and was planned to be self sufficient with no "grid" as such.

Now it's much as it was with solar panels, big batteries, and fibre + home lab.

[senectus1]

Have always been told to never throw weeds in the compost...

[defrost]

I've been throwing weeds in the compost for 20+ years - they break down fine .. some regrow but you can just pull them out again.

We have two three sided "bunkers" 2 metre x 2 metre square x 1.5 metre high that we fill with weeds and then cover every spring (on rotation), once covered they cook pretty hot which kills most things within, reduce them to juice and worm food and when respread a year later they grow good veggies.

We've just today finished spreading three double axle trailer loads (each about 1.5 tonne) of donkey poo and straw .. that's got a lot grass seed and digested grassy fecal matter in it .. it'll make great figs and probably grow grassy weeds under the fig tree .. that'll get pulled and thrown in the heaps also.

Pretty much the only things that don't go in the compost piles are metal, rocks, plastic, etc - if it's organic, it's in.

[canadiantim]

You can always outsource the work and still receive a share of the fruits of the labour, by providing someone else with opportunity to tend to the food growing.

[Sharlin]

Yes, but having the money to hire a servant is also a sign of wealth.

[bryanlarsen]

I don't think the OP was referring to servants, but the relatively common practice of letting your friends garden on your property in return for a share of the output.

[azinman2]

Or just hiring a gardener? It’s not out of reach for most home owners.

[automatic6131]

Lawns are functional though, they aren't just a status symbol. They can be, but they can also be a social and recreational space. Can also be a piece of art - you may laugh sure but, what is art? What is something kept for its aesthetic value alone?

Also over the pond it's an invention much older than merely the 18th century.

[potato3732842]

This. Short grass around your structure increases the difficulty of rodent ingress. Keeping dead leaves raked and swept away reduces mosquito habitat. Sure you can put other plants there but the maintenance burden of them is going to be higher and depending on your roof and water/snow situation you might just wind up fighting a continuous battle against their destruction. In most of North America a lawn is simply the lowest maintenance way to keep nature at bay.

[jvanderbot]

Also ticks.

My kids love to run around my backyard, and I keep it mowed and trimmed for them to do so.

The iconoclasm runs deep in techno-optimists, but some things stick around for a reason.

[jerlam]

Backyards are different than frontyards. Your backyard is considered your private space and you can put a locked fence around it, store your stuff in a shed, put in a swimming pool, etc. You are more restricted with a front yard.

If I had the choice and I was forced to allocate, I would choose 100% backyard and 0% frontyard.

[bryanlarsen]

In my experience, urban parks do a much better job of this than backyards do. Urban density means more neighbors, and parks with other kids are much more appealing than backyards without.

[jvanderbot]

Probably true - when I move to a dense urban area where a park makes more sense I will definitely take my kids there!

[indigo0086]

The land will never be reclaimed by anyone but the owner so why is it a big deal if someone manicures it. Buy your land and do with it what you will.

[nfriedly]

I think it matters when the owner wants to do something different but feels obligated to maintain the status quo by neighbors, and often even laws and regulations.

[indigo0086]

Ah the old HN Gaslight Redirect. My reply is to a personal opinion of the OP, you're reply is to another argument made by not me.

[JambalayaJimbo]

I think there is an important distinction between the front lawn and the back yard. In neighborhoods around my city, the front lawn is an entirely valueless piece of land (outside aesthetics).

[ChumpGPT]

>Lawns are functional

Here in DFW where we didn't see a drop of rain for 3-4 months and +100 heat, it was around $600 a month in water to keep it green. I also never see anyone outside playing on their lawn. I see landscape maintenance once a week at a minimum cost of $45 per visit. Can't forget all the poison laid down 6 times a year at 100 + to kill the weeds and fertilize. The costs are enormous and the environmental damage is insane.

[potato3732842]

Or you could just not water it, not fertilize it, not pesticide it and simply run the mower over it whenever the assorted vegetation (which will be mostly grass) exceeds a certain height.

It won't look "nice neighborhood" nice but it'll still be fine.

[ChumpGPT]

The HOA would fine me. I wanted to put in a more southern desert scape but they said I have to have grass.

[mbg721]

The way homes are designed now, in places with basements, they also serve the function of hanging onto rainwater.

[jwarden]

I have heard this theory before, and it seems too simplistic. I have a lawn, and I don’t care a bit about looking wealthy, and don’t think I lack personality. The lawn is an important part of my lovingly crafted landscape, along with trees, rock gardens, pathways, patios and furniture, harmoniously blended in a lush beautiful liveable outdoor space.

Lawn is like a carpet in a landscape. You can walk on it, lie on it, play on it, or just enjoy the esthetic of a lush uniform finish.

I suspect that disdain for lawns is correlated to disdain for ornate architecture or tasteful interior design. Some people just aren’t sensitive to the deep psychological effects of the spaces we live in.

[JambalayaJimbo]

I once erected a tent on my lawn so I could practice erecting the tent. The neighbour beside me came out in a huff and demanded I take it down.

I don’t have a disdain for beautiful things and I wasn’t even planning on keeping the tent up. The demand for uniformity is what irks me.

[karmakurtisaani]

> Nowadays, there's so much profit in this space (equipment, herbicides, etc) that there's an immense marketing budget to keep the status quo.

This seems a bit conspiratorial, I'm sure the same companies would love to sell gardening equipment as well.

I just don't think most people bother. Gardening is super fun, but only if you know what you're doing or have the time and capacity to learn.

[carlosjobim]

Why would it be important to know the history of lawns? Almost all knowledge in the universe is more important than knowing that.

Lawns are nice for children to play on. Maybe that's why hackers hate them so much?